


Across Time and Space

by EvensDramaticShenanigans



Series: Spierfeld Week [6]
Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Dancing, Drinking, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, School Reunion, Spierfeld Week, admitting feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 21:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14317932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvensDramaticShenanigans/pseuds/EvensDramaticShenanigans
Summary: When Simon sees the email pop up in his inbox he almost laughs out loud.The subject line is in all caps and has about twelve more exclamation marks than necessary, and when he reluctantly clicks on it, a gif of balloons and confetti surrounding the words “you’re invited!” practically assault his eyes. He almost doesn’t want to keep reading.But he does. Directly after the obnoxious gif sits a body of text that begins with the words: “You are formally invited to the Creekwood High class of 2016’s five year reunion!”





	Across Time and Space

**Author's Note:**

> Hey heyyy. Day 6 wow! Can you believe it’s almost the last day already? I certainly can’t! I spent all day yesterday working on this one and I got pretty frustrated with it at several points haha. I definitely wish I could have gone into more detail about the fake relationship itself but something came up and I wanted to be able to have this finished in time so I had to go a bit lighter on the details there! Sorry! 
> 
> Thank you Caroline for looking this over and for making me feel a little bit better about it. Your constant love and support for my writing keeps me going and I wouldn't be _anywhere_ without you. I love you so much  <3
> 
> The title comes from M83’s [Reunion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJQQrjVmQG0)

When Simon sees the email pop up in his inbox he almost laughs out loud.

The subject line is in all caps and has about twelve more exclamation marks than necessary, and when he reluctantly clicks on it, a gif of balloons and confetti surrounding the words “you’re invited!” practically assault his eyes. He almost doesn’t want to keep reading. 

But he does. Directly after the obnoxious gif sits a body of text that begins with the words: “You are formally invited to the Creekwood High class of 2016’s five year reunion!” Rather than read through the rather long message detailing the event, Simon just skims the words and scrolls to the bottom to find the whole thing signed off by Taylor Metternich.

Not even a full minute after he’s finished scanning the email, his phone is ringing and Leah’s contact is lighting up the screen. Simon laughs to himself as he reaches for his phone and hits the green ‘accept’ button. 

“Si! Did you see it?” Leah asks immediately, not bothering with pleasantries or greetings. They’ve been friends long enough that those aren’t really necessary anymore, not even when Leah comes over to visit. 

Simons rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh. “Yes, I saw it,” he confirms. “Man, I wonder if it was posted on creeksecrets too,” he jokes.

“Oh it was,” Leah informs, and Simon blinks back at her through the camera, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“You’re kidding, right?” He asks, and Leah shakes her head. “I didn’t even know people still looked at that. High school ended five years ago— what could people possibly have to post on the Tumblr?” 

“I wish I were kidding,” Leah says. “Taylor made a post there. She even used the same gif.” She rolls her eyes. “I guess there must be people who still use it if she felt the need to make a post there.” 

“And here I thought you would be the last one still using creeksecrets,” Simon teases, earning a yelp from Leah.

“If I could hit you over the phone I so would,” she threatens, though she’s laughing good-naturedly. 

Simon’s about to ask if Leah’s planning on attending the reunion when the notifications bar drops down to show the phone symbol and Abby’s contact picture. “Oh, Abby’s calling,” he comments.

“Add her in,” Leah suggests, the camera shaking a bit as she shifts onto her stomach.

Simon nods and taps the accept button before messing with some of the settings so he can connect Abby to the video call. It takes him a second but he finally gets it to work and Abby’s face is filling up another section of his screen. 

“Hey Simon!” Abby greets brightly. “Hey Leah!” 

Simon and Leah both respond with their own  _ hello’s _ , but Abby doesn’t seem to be paying attention as she grumbles quietly at someone off camera. Then  Nick’s face is suddenly squishing into the frame, right next to Abby’s and he’s waving at the camera. “Hey guys!”

“Nick!” Leah cheers, and Simon grins.

“Hey, man,” he says.

“Okay, okay, so I’m assuming you two have already seen the email Taylor Metternich sent out to everyone? About the five year reunion?” Abby says, and when Leah and Simon nod she barrels on. “I can’t wait to get the whole band together again! That’s going to be so fun!” 

“We really are— the whole lunch gang’ll be there. Garrett texted a few minutes after we got the email— I swear you and him are on the same wavelength or something, Leah,” Nick comments, and Leah blushes. “He said he’s definitely going. Bram said he’d be there too.” 

“I mean, I haven’t made the final decision yet,” Leah replies, shrugging her shoulder. She tips her head to one side like she’s considering the option.

“Come on Leah!” Abby pleads. “You’ve got to come! Ooh, and this is the perfect opportunity for you to ask that girl from work out! You can ask her to be your date!” 

Leah’s cheeks go pink at that, but the slight downturn of her lips straightens out a bit more before quirking up the tiniest bit. “That’s actually not a bad idea,” she admits and ducks her head right after she says it. 

“I think Garrett’s bringing a date too,” Nick adds. Then his eyes light up and go wide, like he just remembered something he’d forgotten. “ _ Oh _ , I almost forgot— did y’all know Bram has a boyfriend now?” he asks, a big grin on his face. 

Simon raises his eyebrows. That piece of information is definitely new. “He does?” he asks, and Nick nods.

“Yeah. At least that’s what he told us when Garrett asked if the rest of us were bringing someone. Garrett said he was planning on bringing his girlfriend and I said me and Abby were going together, obviously, and Bram was like ‘oh yeah, I’m definitely bringing my boyfriend’ which was totally out of the blue because none of us even knew he was seeing anyone right now,” Nick explains. 

“Oh,” Simon says. “Does that mean you’re all going with dates?” He asks slowly, narrowing his eyes at the camera a bit. 

“Aw, Si,” Leah coos. “Are you going to bring anyone? I bet you can find someone if you don’t already have someone,” Leah asks, turning the spotlight onto Simon.

“Uh,” Simon starts as all eyes turn towards him. The concept of bringing a date hadn’t even crossed his mind once, though he did feel a pang of something when Nick mentioned Bram’s boyfriend— he’s not really sure what it is. Maybe jealousy. Because he’s still pathetically single and has been for some time now. It’s not as though he hasn’t put himself out there and  _ tried _ to get a boyfriend or anything. It’s just that every time he found someone he even remotely clicked with, something ended up going wrong and none of them have ever lasted longer than a few dates. He really doesn’t know what possesses him to say the next thing he says. But the words are out before he can rethink them. “I already texted my boyfriend to see if he’ll come.”

“Hold the fuck up—” Abby cries out, holding her hand up to the camera. “Did you just say you texted  _ your boyfriend _ ?” She practically shrieks, and Simon can see the cogs turning in her head as she tries to connect the dots and add everything up. 

“Shit, Simon, when did this happen?” Nick chimes in, a grin spreading across his face. 

“And why the hell didn’t you tell us about it!” Leah exclaims, shock etched across her features.

“Simon,  _ spill _ !” Abby yells.

“Oh, uh, shit. My mom’s calling. I really have to take this guys, you know how she gets,” Simon laughs awkwardly and before they can protest or totally see through his lie, Simon hangs up the call and tosses his phone to the side. 

He flops back on his bed and lets out a long sigh.  _ A boyfriend? Really Simon? You couldn’t have said literally anything else? _ Staring up at the ceiling he starts to go through the list of potential guys he could ask to pretend to be his boyfriend for the day, but the list is practically nonexistent. He has absolutely no clue how to fix this. There’s no way he’s going to be able to find someone to go with him by next weekend. He’ll have to try though. 

  
  


Simon tried. He really, really did. But there he is pulling into the familiar Creekwood High parking lot all by himself. Getting out of his car all by himself. Walking up to the entrance of the school all by himself. 

All of his friends are inside already— he knows because they sent an eager text to their group asking when he and his beau were going to show up because they “couldn’t wait to meet him.” And as Simon walks down the hall towards the gym— where the reunion’s being held— he feels the guilt twist in his stomach. He has to actually, physically stop outside of the gym doors and lean up against the locker to take a moment to psych himself up for the conversation he’s about to have with his friends.

Simon’s got his head tipped back against the locker behind him and his eyes are closed as he tries to figure out just exactly what he needs to say and how he needs to say it when he suddenly feels a new presence beside him. His eyes fly open and immediately land on Bram Greenfeld.

And oh. Bram looks good. Like,  _ really _ good. His skin is practically glowing and his eyes are softer than Simon remembers as he smiles that warm, pretty grin that shows off his teeth. And like, it’s not as though Simon hasn’t seen Bram since high school ended— because he has. They went to the same university— even ended up taking some of the same classes— and they’ve both been at the “lunch table gang” meetups that Abby and Leah orchestrated all the time. So, really, Simon shouldn’t be so caught off guard by Bram. But there he is. 

“Hey Simon,” Bram greets. His voice is just as smooth and mellow as always and it does things to Simon’s insides— twists them up in the best way and makes his heart skip a few beats. 

“Hi Bram,” Simon responds, pushing himself off of the locker and into a normal upright position. He smooths his hands onto his jeans and flashes Bram a smile. 

“It’s good to see you,” Bram says as he walks closer to Simon. 

“Yeah, it’s good to see you too,” Simon repeats. “It’s been a while, huh?” He laughs softly. 

Bram nods, “Yeah, it has. Too long, if you ask me,” he grins.

Simon feels the butterflies in his stomach start to flap their wings at that comment and he looks down at his shoes to hide the way his cheeks start to pink.

“So, uh, where’s that boyfriend of yours?” Bram asks curiously, and Simon’s head snaps back up to look at him.

“How do you know about that?” He questions, his brows furrowed together. 

Bram laughs softly. “Nick mentioned it,” he explains. “Is he out in the car or something?” 

Simon bites his lip and slowly shakes his head. “I uh,” he starts and reaches up to scratch at the back of his neck. “I actually kind of made that up?” It ends up coming out as more of a question than a statement. 

Bram lifts a brow. “Oh?” 

“Yeah,” Simon says sheepishly. “I uh, I’m pathetically single and when Nick mentioned that you and Garrett were bringing dates and when Abby said Leah should ask the girl at work to be her date I kind of panicked? And I sort of just blurted out that I have a boyfriend when I actually don’t.” 

Bram nods and sends Simon an understanding look. “That’s funny you say that, actually,” he says. 

“How so?”

Bram lets out a sigh. “I don’t actually have a boyfriend either,” he confesses, scrunching up his nose in this adorable way once the words are out. “I kind of did the same thing as you,” he laughs. 

And Simon definitely wasn’t expecting that. But then an idea pops into his mind and the longer it sits there the better it sounds. Before he knows it he’s opening his mouth. “So, um, you can totally say no if you want. This might sound kind of crazy,” he pauses for a second, “but we could always pretend to be together? Y’know, since we both kind of lied about having boyfriends… and we both showed up without fake ones…” He trails off awkwardly and runs a hand nervously through his hair as he waits for Bram’s reaction.

Bram is quiet for a second, but then the corners of his lips are tugging up into a shy smile and he nods. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea, Simon,” he responds, his cheeks taking on a pink hue. 

“Really?” Simon asks, his eyebrows shooting up. 

Bram nods again and takes a step closer to Simon. “Yeah, I mean, like you said. We both lied about having boyfriends and we both showed up without one.” He shrugs. “We’d be helping each other out.” 

“For real?” Simon questions again, and Bram laughs, his smile growing. 

“Yes, for real,” he responds.

“Shit, yeah, okay. Let’s do this,” Simon says, nodding his head fervently. 

Then Bram holds one of his cute, knobbly hands out and sends this adorably wry little smile towards Simon. Simon reaches out to take Bram’s hands and their palms slide together before Bram twines their fingers. And it’s magical, really. Their hands fit so well together and it just feels totally, completely natural. 

“You ready, boyfriend?” Simon asks, a teasing lilt to his voice. 

Bram chuckles and nods. “I’m ready, boyfriend,” he says right back.

Then the two of them turn towards the gym and make their way inside. 

 

The first familiar face they spot is Taylor Metternich, who’s standing near the door— presumably to greet everyone that comes. 

“Simon! Bram!” She calls and excuses herself from the conversation she was in the middle of to walk towards them. “Welcome back to Creekwood!” She cheers, laughing a little. 

“Hi Taylor,” Simon replies, and then he’s being pulled into a quick hug. Taylor lets go of him quickly and then does the same to Bram. 

“Can y’all believe that it’s really been five years since we graduated? It feels like it was just yesterday!” Taylor gushes, flashing a huge grin at them. It’s then that she notices their hands and she gasps, her fingers coming up to cover her mouth. She look between them with wide eyes. 

“Oh my god, when did this happen?” She asks curiously. 

And shit. They didn’t really talk out any of the details of their “relationship”— which probably would have been a very smart thing to do, especially since they know how nosy their friends can get. 

Thankfully, before they get the chance to make fools of themselves by stuttering out an answer, Taylor barrels on, not even waiting for a response to her last question. “It makes so much sense. You know I always wondered why you turned down Cal Price junior year. Oh, this is the sweetest. You two look great together,” she says sincerely. 

And then someone else is coming through the gym doors and Taylor lights up when she sees Emily Goff. “Emily!” She exclaims. Then she turns to Simon and Bram. “It was lovely to see you two again, have a great time tonight!” And then she’s off. 

Simon and Bram share a laugh, but neither one misses the relieved expression on the other’s face. 

Bram ducks his head closer to Simon so he can whisper into his ear. “So, we probably should have come up with a story,” he says

Simon nods. “Yeah, probably. Uh what if we just say that we went to coffee one day to study for the lit class we took together and then one day it kind of stopped being about the studying?” He suggests.

Bram grins. “I like it, that sounds good. How long ago should that have happened?” 

But before Simon gets the chance to think of a response, he hears his and Bram’s names being called by none other than Abby Suso herself. 

Her face is lit up in excitement and she’s heading towards them with Nick and Leah and Garrett and their dates following close behind. “You guys!” Abby calls and then she’s throwing her arms around their necks and pulling them into a hug. “It’s been so long!” She gushes.

Simon snorts. “Abby we hung out like two weeks ago,” he points out, and Abby just swats her hand through the air in front of her.

“Oh that’s still so long ago! It’s great to see you two!” She says. “Where are your—” she cuts herself off, and Simon knows  _ exactly _ why when he watches her eyes fall to their hands. They fly back up and she looks between Simon and Bram with a slightly shocked expression on her face. “Holy fucking shit,” she says simply. Then she’s breaking into a huge smile and she actually bounces on the balls of her feet in excitement. “Oh my god, why didn’t you tell us you were dating?” She asks.

“Simon!” Leah exclaims, reaching out to gently shove Simon’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell us your boyfriend’s Bram?”

Simon laughs lightly and shrugs. “I don’t know,” he responds lamely. “It’s still pretty new,” he adds, and Bram snorts quietly beside him. Simon has to bite down on his lip and he squeezes Bram’s hand.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe! You and Bram!” Abby gushes, and Simon just ducks his head and blushes. He knows it’s fake, but it just feels so real, and the support from their friends is just so lovely. He loves it, really. It’s like he’s living out sixteen year old Simon’s wildest dreams right now. 

“Shit! You two figured your shit out! Finally!” Nick chimes in. “Good on you, honestly.”

“Damn, it’s about time, Greenfeld!” Garrett adds, patting Bram’s shoulder. “Ninth grade Bram would be shitting himself,” he laughs. 

Bram flushes a dark red at that and he just shakes his head when Simon raises an eyebrow at him. “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing. Just… just one of Garrett’s jokes,” he says.

Simon decides to let it go. Maybe he’ll bring it up later. It’s not that important right now anyways. Not when they have catching up with their friends to do and important reunion-y things ahead of them.

“Hey, I think I need a beer if I’m going to make it through the rest of the night,” Simon jokes, grinning wide at his friends. He turns towards Bram. “Do you want one?” 

“Sure,” Bram laughs. “I’ll come with you.”

And then the two of them excuse themselves from their friends and head towards the tables full of hors d’oeuvres and finger foods and a whole selection of drinks to choose from.

They end up having to repeat the story a few more times as they run into former classmates and friends, all of whom are both surprised yet totally not that they ended up together. Hearing them say that makes Simon blush because damn, was his crush  _ that _ obvious junior and senior year? He likes to think it wasn’t, but then again based on everything everyone’s telling him tonight it must have been. 

At one point Cal Price even laughs and jokes that maybe this was why Simon turned him down junior year. The comment has Simon blushing even more and burying his face into Bram’s shoulder— because that’s what boyfriends do, right? 

 

The entire night feels completely surreal to Simon. He’s touched Bram more times than he can even count, and they’ve been all up in each other’s space the whole time. If they’re not holding hands, they’ve got their arms around each other’s waists or shoulders. At one point, Bram kisses Simon on the cheek, and Simon honest to god almost loses his shit right then and there in the middle of that conversation. 

Their whole groups finds their way back together and they spend some more time catching up— mainly on Simon and Bram’s relationship and how, where, when it happened and pretty much every other detail in between. Then Abby and Nick suggest they take things to the dance floor and “show Creekwood class of 2016 how it’s done” since no one else is on the dance floor yet.

Thankfully, by this point Simon, Bram, and the rest of their friends are drunk enough that the idea seems like the best one in the world.

Bram grabs Simon’s hand and pulls him onto the dance floor and the two of them sway together to the shitty music the dj is playing. They’re laughing and stumbling around each other, trying not to step on each other’s feet, and at one point Simon tries to twirl Bram around. Bram nearly falls, but Simon catches him and then they’re collapsing into laughter.

“Oh my god,” Simon laughs out. “I need to find some water,” he says. 

“There’s a drinking fountain right outside the gym, remember?” Bram says, and Simon nods. 

“Right!” He exclaims and then grabs Bram’s hand again. It’s almost like second nature now, the way Bram’s fingers curl into his. 

They make their way off of the dance floor and towards the gym doors. Once they’re out in the hall it’s much quieter, and Simon appreciates the calm that settles over him.

“So,” he starts, bumping his shoulder into Bram’s. Bram looks over at Simon and lifts an eyebrow. “What exactly did Garrett mean earlier when he said ninth grade Bram would be shitting himself?” He asks. The question has been on his mind all night, if he’s being honest. 

Bram blushes again, just like he did when Garrett had brought it up, but he doesn’t look like he’s going to shut Simon down. “Oh,” he says slowly. “I um… well, I kind of had a massive crush on you in ninth grade,” Bram answers. “Actually, it was kind of, uh, all of high school, really.”

And woah. Even though Simon assumed that’s what Garrett was hinting at, he didn’t realize what it would be like to actually hear the words come from Bram’s lips. 

“Oh,” Simon says. And god, what a stupid thing to say. He quickly opens his mouth to say something else. “That’s a long time,” he laughs softly, but there’s a soft smile on his face as he looks at Bram. 

Bram nods. “It is,” he agrees. “Almost nine years now,” he admits with another small laugh. 

This time Simon’s really caught off guard. “Wait—  _ nine  _ years?” He asks, and then it hits him. Four years of high school, four years of college, this year… that’s nine. “You… you still like me?” 

Bram ducks his head, but nods again. “I do, yeah,” he admits. “I know… I know that’s probably pretty shitty of me to agree to pretend to be your boyfriend when that’s all I’ve wanted for a long time now. I kind of feel like I’ve taken advantage of you in a way.”

Simon shakes his head right away and stops walking. Bram stops too and turns to look at Simon curiously. Simon steps into Bram’s space and lifts his hand to rest against Bram’s cheek. “No way. You haven’t taken advantage of me. I… I kind of suggested this just so I could see what it was like to be your boyfriend. I figured pretending for one night was better than never knowing,” he confesses.

This time it’s Bram’s turn to look surprised. “Wait…” he says slowly. “Are you saying… does that mean you like me too?” He asks, and he sounds so hopeful, it’s totally endearing. 

Simon nods. “I’ve liked you since junior year.”

Bram’s eyes are shining so bright and Simon just can’t help himself. His eyes are falling shut and then he’s leaning forward, tilting his head to the side. When his lips finally meet Bram’s, a tingle goes down Simon’s spine, right to his toes, and he holds Bram tighter. Bram’s hands come up to rest against Simon’s waist and it takes them a moment to figure out the right angle so their noses aren’t bumping together, but once they get it it’s magical. Simon practically sighs into the kiss. Bram’s lips are so soft and the kiss is so sweet, full of nine year’s worth of feelings and emotions. It’s the best kiss of his life. 

When they pull apart a few seconds later, Simon’s smiling so big it feels like his face might split in two.

“I can’t believe we’ve wasted so much time,” Simon laughs. 

Bram grins and shakes his head. “We may have wasted so much time, but we’ve got so much ahead of us too.” 

And Bram’s right. They’re together now, and they have all the time in the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought with a kudos or a comment! 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Come say [hi](http://evensdramaticshenanigans.tumblr.com/)! :)


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